In The Tower
by DragonRose888
Summary: One night, Gary Oak found out that not everything in the Pokemon Tower wants to be friends... ...get out... Gary-Centric, no pairings. Horror of the Paranormal sort.


**Author's Note: One of two fanfictions written for Halloween. The other will be up shortly. For now, a Gary-centric fic. If you see ANY ShiShi, you'll have to let me know: that wasn't my intent this time around. As it is, I have several Gary-centric stories planned and in the process of being typed. Enjoy this rather creepy take of Gary's trip to Pokemon Tower.**

**Warnings: Horror, language**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Gary Oak, Pokemon Tower, Pokemon, or anything along those lines. The song 'In The Tower' by ICP, which the title is derived from, is also not mine. Obviously.**

**-**

**In The Tower**

**-**

There have been few times in my life that I've been reduced to something less then what people know me as.

But only very, very few.

The day my parents were struck by a train and killed, the day they were buried. Those days I was a wreck...and I was only five, then. Not old enough to do much besides get into trouble. Personality for me were non-existent at that point: I was just an average little snot of a kid lumped in with every other brat that age.

The day my first pet died was another: My Meowth, Mittens, also struck with a vehicle, but a car, this time, not a train. I think it was worse because of how it happened, then. I remembered a lot about when my parents died, and I was present for Mittens' death. I guess you could say that I could imagine at the time what my parents must have looked like the day they lost their lives, looking down on that pokemon smeared into the pavement.

But I was only six, then.

No, no, in order to see me less then who anyone knew me as, I had to be older. You can count my breakdowns on one hand, and on maybe a couple fingers how many times I've gotten really hysterical.

One is one I think everyone knows about: The day I went after my Earth Badge. Yeah, so I didn't behave shell shocked at first, big deal. It's no secret that after everything was said and done that day that the nightmares that night had me screaming for my mother. My DEAD mother.

Pretty bad, don't you think?

Yes, so, everyone got to know about that. After all, I'd surrounded myself with gossiping cheerleaders: the information was sure to get out. So I got call after call from everyone: was I okay? Was I hurt? Did I want to come home?

I brushed it off. How could I not? I was Gary Oak, arrogant pokemon trainer who wasn't slowed down by ANYTHING.

Pokemon Tower, however, froze me dead in my tracks.

-

They didn't want me to go. None of the girls was keen on joining me, but I needed a ghost pokemon at the time, so I was determined to go in. I wasn't the least bit scared: I was someone who didn't believe in ghosts, who could have cared less about ghostly orbs or apparitions or whatever they were called. None of that made a difference to me. I just knew that I had to have a Ghost-Type and that this place was where to find one.

"Oh...be careful!" Was the last thing one of the girls told me. I had packed up from the hotel and was planning on staying the entire night if I had to. So I waved, said I would, and went on my way.

I didn't pause at the doors, like Ash had, or so I've heard. I just waltzed right in, bag in hand, flashlight in the other. Hey, it was dark, and I've established that I wasn't scared. But I sure as hell wasn't falling through a hole or something.

I decided before hand to set up a little camp in a room upstairs. More activity seemed to be reported up here, and I was sure that if I chose the right spot, I could trap a pokemon in one of the rooms. So I made my way up the rotting stairs and into an old bedroom. Most of the furniture was destroyed, so it looked like the floor was my bed for the night.

Am I being vague? You'll have to put up with it, because nothing up to this point matters.

I don't know how many are aware, but when I'm out on a mission on my own, I record what's going on, so that if I fail, I can take notes from what's happened. At the time of my trip to the Pokemon Tower, I had a small, mini camcorder that I turned on once I was comfy in my temporary head-quarters:

"So...the date is January 7th. No need for a year: I'm sure I'll throw this out eventually. The location is the Pokemon Tower; the objective is to successfully capture a Ghost-Type Pokemon, namely either a Gastly, a Haunter, or a Gengar. From eye witness reports, the location is 'haunted', but more then likely the activity is pokemon-oriented rather then paranormal."

I started off all my entries this way, and I think, because I was rather full of myself back then, that I secretly liked to hear my own voice. In any case, I set the camcorder down, looking around the room. "I'm located on the second floor, the first bedroom on the right. Most of the furniture here is old, and falling apart. There is almost no light, and literally no sound apart from my speaking. I will be recording any activity for further reference if this catch is unsuccessful." And so I got myself situated, waiting.

About an hour later was when it began.

"...Time is 10:17pm. There appears to be a knocking coming from further down the hallway." I got up, then, taking the camcorder and the flashlight with me. "Approaching the source: most likely a pokemon."

But there was nothing in the hallway. I was confused, stunned for a few moments, when I heard the noise again, closer. I ran a sweep of the hallway with my flashlight, which revealed the same: nothing was there. Frowning, I returned to the room. "Note: It appears that the Ghost-Pokemon are, in fact, present, but they may be hiding. The knocking is still present, but no form seems to be responsible." I set both items down, pointing them to the open door. Still, despite what I was experiencing, I was unafraid. I picked up Eevee's pokeball and threw it up and down, watching the door.

The noises got closer. I narrowed my eyes.

And then...then...

Then it was there, right at the door. Knocking just outside of my field of view, against the wood of the door-frame. I'd had enough.

"Show yourself!"

Even now...that was a mistake.

The knocking ceased, and I sighed, disappointed that I'd scared off my prey...when the door moved.

The creaking of the hinges haunts me, even now. The slow, steady whine of metal being forced to move after being still for so long. It swung further open.

But no one was there. Nothing. I should have run, then, I should have left, but I was still above being frightened, so I stood, ready to face what I thought was a Ghost-Pokemon.

"Let's go, E-"

But I didn't get a chance to call out my pokemon, because the door stopped moving. A rapid series of knocks ran down the wall and towards the stairs, and, stupidly, I followed after them, camcorder in one hand, flashlight in the other. I was determined not to loose my target.

What a fool I was.

"Stop!" The camcorder picked up all my shouts during the chase, as well as sickeningly swinging as I ran with it. "What, are you afraid?! Get back here and fight!"

It raced down the stairs, and I followed, jumping over the last few to gain speed.

The air turned ice cold. Everything in my body seemed to freeze at once, and I had to hold in a surprised gasp.

It was then I realized that the knocking was right by my ear.

Slowly, I turned my head..."Ready to stop-"...

Only to see black. the light of my flashlight did nothing to clear it. It was simply a mass of cold, pitch blackness. "...R-r-running...?"

And the microphone picked up this:

_"...Get out..."_

There was a burning, awful pain that rushed over my arm, and a white noise filled my ears. It shorted out the camcorder, periodically, as I ran away. By that point, I was panicked, confused, and beyond all: terrified. I fled in a random direction, right into the foyer...

Where I suddenly felt the ground leave me. The floors, old and rotting, had given way beneath me, and I'd begun to fall, screaming, into the blackness below.

-

The sickening crack was what alerted me to the fact that I'd hit the basement: it resounded up from my leg to my ears, and I screamed again, the pain from my lower leg making it almost impossible for me to see...which was when I realized that it was pitch black. My flashlight had rolled off. I struggled to reach it, but then it flickered, finally dying and leaving me in a world of nothing. Nothing but the unforgiving blackness.

But even then, I wasn't scared. I heaved myself into a sitting position, just against the wall, almost sobbing in pain. My leg was broken, I was convinced of that. And where had I left all of my medical supplies? All of my pokemon? Far from me, where I couldn't reach them. My only options were to either find a way out and literally crawl on my hands and knees, or wait until morning.

The first time I tried to move my injured leg, the pain was so great that I threw up, and so I was left with no choice but to wait until dawn. I called for help then, but knew that it was futile. No one would answer, because no one was around.

And it was when I realized this that I heard the giggling.

I would hear it all night long (..._Hehehe, hehehe..._) over and over.

At first I tricked myself into thinking it was part of the delirium caused by my pain, and I even began to believe that what had happened upstairs had been me over re-acting.

The camcorder, still clutched in my hand, screen broken but mic intact, picked up this:

_"Are you scared?"_

And at that moment, I was. I whimpered like a baby, after that, curling up as far as I could into the wall behind me, eyes darting everywhere, looking for the giggler, (_hehehehe, you're scared, he's scared, lookit him shiver, hehehe..._), looking for something I couldn't see.

"...T-Time...time is unknown..." I had to talk, I had to. I was so terrified, and it was the only thing I could think of that would allow me to keep from full out bawling. "After an experience while chasing an...an unknown...presence..." I refused to say 'ghost' or 'spirit', but I sure as hell knew it was no pokemon that had threatened me so. "Fell into what appears to be the basement...broke lower leg, don't think I can get far at all..."

_"Does it hurt? Hehehe..."_

Swallowing, I went on. "There appears...to be someone else here."

_"Someone...else...he...he. he...stupid...no one else..."_

"It appears to be talking...giggling..." Another swallow. They are literally audible on the playback. "But won't reveal itself...I'll keep this on the rest of the night."

There are thousands upon thousands of sounds I can't explain on that tape from there on out. Sometimes I yelled back at it, telling it shut up. Then I asked what it wanted. Eventually, I begged it, BEGGED it, to stop, to leave me alone...

_"Hehehe..."_

"...Please...please...go away..." I was moaning at that point. I was exhausted, but terrified of what would await me if I closed my eyes.

_"Scared, he's scared, he's a little __**BITCH!**__" _They screamed that last one in my ear, causing me to cry out and back into the wall further. I started to cry, at that point. _"__**A BITCH, A LITTLE BITCH, A WHINY LITTLE BRAT, FUCKING WORTHLESS LITTLE BITCH, DIE!**__" _

And I heard it over and over again: _"__**DIE! DIE! DIE!**__" _And the giggler continued to laugh as I cried, unsure of what to do, shaking so badly that my teeth were clacking together.

The yeller then began to whisper in my ear: _"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. You'll bleed all over. You'll scream._" At that point, I believed it. I begged through my tears for my life, like a girl, like a weak little boy who was so far from who I was to who I knew that no one would have recognized me.

Eventually, it drifted into the background with the giggler, who had been joined by the weeper, someone who was constantly sobbing, just like me. Mocking me. It grew late, and my eyes fell shut.

I awoke with hot breath on my face. I didn't expect to see Ash's face looming over me, but the relief that coursed through me was so great that I didn't care about how he could have gotten there. I reached out for him, bottom lip quivering, so happy that I was safe, I was SAFE.

But Ash just laughed. He LAUGHED at me, at my misery. I yelled at him, then, called him all kinds of things.

When I blinked, his face was right in mine. His eyes were no longer there, just the dull, empty sockets staring me down. He was bleeding from his mouth, and it poured out in great fountains. And the thing that had taken the appearance of my rival grinned in a way evil enough to make a demon scream.

_"Don't go to sleep...Gary..."_

I screamed until dawn.

-

When morning came, I awoke with a jolt. I'd only slept for a few minutes, but all the same, my eyes looked around like a panicked rabbit. The space was lit: upstairs, sunlight filtered through the windows and into the hole I'd fallen through. It reeked down in the hole: I'd humiliatingly wet my pants at the apparition of my rival, and I had, of course, thrown up before that. My eyes were red, there were dark circles under my eyes, and my throat felt like it was bleeding. My leg wasn't any better then it had been the night before, of course. I was hungry, tired, and petrified.

_"...You slept._"

I wanted to scream again as the body of my rival appeared again, this time with more grisly detail. The blood had sinced dried on his chin, and something was moving in the black sockets of his eyes. His hands were thin, spindly, like bugs, and he crawled out of the blackness on all fours, unseeing, non-existing eyes keeping my gaze trained on him.

_"You slept...didn't listen..._"

My breath was coming in thick, ragged gulps, at that point, but he kept coming. Soon, he was face to face with me. I could smell the copper on this thing's breath from the blood now dried on his face. The thing moved in his eye socket again, and I realized with horror that it was a maggot. My mouth suddenly was watering from nausea again, and still this thing pressed in.

"_I'm...going...to kill you...3_"

I only realized its hands were on my throat when my air supply was choked off. It laughed as it squeezed the air from me, and I clawed at it, desperate to get free, only coming back with air in my hands.

"_Die._"

"Gary!"

It vanished within a second. Just like that: everything withdrew. I sucked in breath after breath of air.

"Gary! Gary, are you okay?"

"This isn't funny, Gary!"

"Oh, I hope he's okay..."

The girls had come to get me. My night of terror was over.

-

They didn't make me explain myself. With some help, the girls even got me changed into some decent clothes. I certainly couldn't have done it on my own, then...thankfully, they said nothing about how they were wet.

I would have been humiliated, had I not be scared to death. Or, rather, almost to death.

The first time they got me to say something was when they asked: "What happened?"

They didn't ask anything else after I mumbled: "I got scared." I was attached to the side of one of them the entire time they helped me gather my things to leave. Gradually, I calmed down. I was back in a comfort zone, and everything was fine.

It was when I was leaving the tower when I was shoved. I cried out, falling from the arms of one of the girls. She screamed, and so did I: Deep gouges were carved into my back and shoulders. I nearly lost it when, beside my ear...

_"Scardy cat, scardy cat, scardy cat, __**you little pussy. I'm still going to get yougetyougetyouHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-**__"_

"Gary, are you okay?"

One of the girls was at my side, trying to help me sit up, and the terrible voice that had tormented me was gone. From the childish chants that had begun that last bit of contact, to the sinister, evil snarling right up at the end, maniacal laughter and all...

I overheard her say later to the others while she thought I was asleep that I said:

"...It was Ash..."

-

You might be thinking that I'm making this up. After all, even after the incident, I was still one nasty ass to my rival. Mighty fishy for someone who saw what he did, and heard what he heard. I should have been avoiding Ash at all costs.

And honestly? The thought of seeing Ash at all did terrify me. I didn't WANT to see spaces where his eyes were, critters crawling in the sockets. I didn't WANT to hear him speaking normally before hearing that awful, evil tone again...or see the blood that would pour out of his mouth when he did. I even went as far as telling myself that I would drop off the face of the Earth so that we'd never meet again.

But I couldn't do that. That wouldn't be the Gary-Thing to do, after all. I had to look him in the face and go right on doing what I had always done. Of course Ash's eyes didn't suddenly vanish; of course he never bled from his mouth like someone had chopped his tongue in half. The only tones I heard from him were the ones he'd always used with me. And I realized why it was ridiculous to be afraid of him: Because, whatever that thing had been in the Pokemon Tower, no matter what form I thought I saw, it wasn't, and never had been my rival.

It still nagged at me why it would take that form, though...Don't get me wrong, I've thought about it a lot, but I've yet to figure it out.

But no matter what I try to figure out this, there is one thing I will never do to help myself solve it: ever set foot in that damn tower again.

Because...sometimes...when I'm sleeping...

_"...you slept..."_

I think I hear things...

_"...stupid..."_

That might not be there...

_"...I'm going __**to kill you**__."_

And nowadays, I don't sleep much at all.

_"...scardy cat...scardy cat...scardy cat..."_

It's funny, because if I told anyone about this now...well, they'd tell me I was on something, I'm sure. But every so often, I rewind that tape, only when I'm alone, only when no one can hear. No one knows what happened to me in the tower but me. Although...at some point...I think I'll tell Ash. I just want to see the reaction from him when I tell him what I saw...and what it'll be when he realizes the voice on the tape is his.

My nightmare began with two words:

_"...get out..."_

...Why...didn't I listen...?

-Fin-

**Author's Note: I tried my hand at something more supernatural this time around. Did I get the effect right? Should I have added something else? Would you like me to add one more chapter? If so, what of? Just hit yonder button and let me know.**

**For YukiMerricoon. And Slivershell, since this WAS my entry for her Halloween fic contest. Sorry it wasn't in on time, Sliver.**


End file.
